For those of you with iPhones, there now is an App for Shakespeare and it’s free! The entire works of Shakespeare in your phone…brilliant!

The world of Shakespeare has been taken by storm with the discovery of a treasure trove of personal paper and manuscripts belonging to William Shakespeare himself.

During restoration work on Shakespeare’s Bust in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-Upon-Avon the panel pictured was removed to reveal the documents.

At present detailed information has not been released, as experts from across the Globe head to Stratford to view the works. It has however been announced that several new plays have been discovered including a work on the life of Marco Polo (1254-1324) entitled “Frail Polo”.

Update: I am sure you all noticed that “Frail Polo” is actually an anagram of April Fool.

Today in our series on Shakespeare and popular culture.

Brush up your Shakespeare.

We are trying to keep up with the times and have created pages on MySpace, YouTube and FaceBook. Please join and ask your friends to join us. We will try to keep these interesting and keep in touch with anyone that cares to chat with us.

I am currently directing Romeo & Juliet in Saffron Walden. This will be performing at Saffron Walden Town Hall from 15th to 19th November Box Office: 01799 510444. This is a very interesting and unique project. It has three of the best actors from my company including myself in it but all the rest of the performers, 30 in all, are from the community and were picked at open auditions. This allows people from all backgrounds to experience what it is to be a professional actor in a professional company. They are working with a professional director and actors to create this production. The girl playing Juliet is 16 and therefore close to the correct age in the script but the production has attracted people of every age and background to the cast. It has been a very enjoyable and inspiring experience. Website: Shake-a-Leg

The first night of Comedy in the Park has only just finished. Andy Smart brilliantly compered throughout the night and introduced Milo McCabe a young stand-up comedian who interacted with the audience right from the start. Steve Rawlings (above) and his comedy juggling had me in stitches! It really was a classic piece of Vaudeville theatre delivered with sharp and saucy wit. Dominic Holland has a real warmth and intimacy with the audience, and an acute eye for modern day life.

I am eagerly awaiting next week’s Comedy in the Park show with Jimmy McGhie, Alfie Joey, Jason Manford and Nick Wilty. Tickets are selling well, so booking soon is advised.

This has to one of the strangest Shakespearian thing I have ever seen. This is The Beatles, yes The Beatles performing Pyramus and Thisbe from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Amazingly they are almost word perfect so if they are not using prompt boards they must have put in around a weeks rehearsal. 

Here is Kirkstall Abbey and the Leeds Shakespeare Festival as seen from space. It must have been taken just before a performance of Romeo and Juliet in 2002 as I recognise the set. Found at Google Earth. You can clearly see the stage, actors and the canopy over the audience seats. Judging the angle of shadows - it must have been early evening. This is how alien races are able to keep up with the very best in Shakesperian theatre.